e-Makalat Mezhep Araştırmaları Dergisi

Öz

It is well-known to the researchers of History of Islamic Sects that the Buyruks, i.e. firmans are one of the most important texts of the Alawi-Bektashi tradition, having been used as the manuals by the dedes/babas, i.e., the Sufi order leaders. The oldest and most authentic one of such texts is the Maqâlât by Shaikh Safî al-Dîn Ardabilî, the founder of the Kizilbash Alawi hearths. This work of Shaikh Safî, who is also the grandfather of Shah Ismâ‘îl, was recently unearthed and transliterated into the Latinized Turkish scripts, being made accessible to the Modern readers. One can describe the work as a Sufi classic in the fullest sense of the term because it is woven of the Qur'anic verses, the sayings of the Prophet and moral advices. Some certain chapters of the book are composed of the expositions and elucidations of Qur'anic verses, sayings of the Prophet, statements of the Sufi shaikhs, recommendations and admonitions in prose and poetry as well as the spiritual lineage of the shaikh himself. This study is intended to address some interesting and salient features of the work, laying a special emphasis on its characteristics similar to and different from the other sectarian entities